Glass-furnace.



1w. CONNINGTON. GLASS FUKRNACE.

APPLICATION HLED JAN. 31, 1911. 1,172,674. Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lNVENTOR y T. W. CONNINGTON.

GLASS 'F.URNACE.

APPLICATION FlLE-D IAN- 31,191 y 1,172,674. l Patented Feb.'22,191(5.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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1. w. CONNINGTON.

GLASS FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILEp 1AN. 31,1911.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916 6 SHEES-SHEET 3.

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GLASS. FURNACE. APPLicATioN FILED 1AN.3|.19H.

1,172,674. Patnte Feb. 22,1916.

6 SHLETS-SHEET 4.

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T. W. CONNINGTON.

GLASS FURNACE.

APPucATIoN man JAN. 31. |911.

Patnted Feb. 22, 1916.

Illlllllllllll l6`SHElTS-SHEET 5.

l l W @a M om T. W.l CONNINGTON.

(iL-ASS FURNACE.

APPLICATION HLED JAN; 3s, 1911.

Patented F61@=` 22; 1916.

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GLASS-FURNACE Specification of Letters Patent.

latciitcd heb. 2??, i916.

Application filed .anuary 31, i931. Serial No. 605,831.

fo ([75 107mm it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, Turnus W. Coxivnvd rox, resident of Clarksburg, Harrison county, lVest Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Glass-Furnaces, of which the following is ay full. clear, and exact. description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. forming part of' this specification. in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of one end portion of a furnaceembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section; Fig. il a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of the pon tion of the furnace shown in Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the cover or shield members; Fig. is a longitudinal vertical section througlrthe drawing end portion of the furnace, showing the preferred form; Fig. (3 is a plan view showing the preferred arrangement at the drawing cud of the furnace. with the supporting frame and parts removed; Fig. 7 is a crosssection on the line VH-VH of Fig. 6; F ig. 8 is a longitudinal vertical section through the draw-end portion of the furnace, illustrating a modification; and Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of one of there fractory rings which surround the drawing holesor openings.

My invention has relation to glass furnacesg'and `is designed to provide a furnace so constructed and arranged as to protect,

in a large measure, the refractory wall or lining of the furnace chamber from the destructive action of the heat.` As heretofore constructed, the refractory blocks constituting the walls of the furnace chamber cut "framework in various ways. ings l have shown it as supported by means of the skewbaclts 8, which are 1n tutu. supin the details of construction and arrange` ment of the parts by those skilled in the art without departing from thc spirit and scope of my invention asdelined `in the appended claims.

ln vthese drawings, the-numeral 2 desig natos the metal frame of the furnace; 25 the furnace chamber; l the side walls thereof; one end wall: and 6 the bottoni wall, the side, end and bottom walls being constructed of refractory bricks or blocks or the usual character. v

7 designates the arch of the furnace. In accordance with my invention, this arch extends over the central portion only of the furnace, the side walls being offset some distance laterally beyond theedgcs of the arch, as shown in Fig. and the ond walls 3 bcing offset beyond the ends of the arch, vas best shown in Fig. l. lt. therefore, becomes necessary to provide means for suspending the arch, which may be hung from the In the drawported by hangers 9 depending from the horizontal arms 10 of the vertical beams or posts l1 lof the `furnace frame. I do` not, however, limit myself t0 any particular means for suspending the arch, as this can be accomplished in various ways. n

l2 designates a series of heating ports, which communicate with the 'uptakes .13 leading from the regenerators 14;, These ports communicate with the furnace underneath the arch, and are carried in from the v uptakcs 13 above the offset lateral and end portions of the furnace, which are of less away very rapidly under ,the action of the Vheat and hotglass. necessitating frequent renewal at. a large expense, and with considerable loss of time. in the operation of the furnace. A

Mv invention provides a construction in which the refractorynbloclts of the side and end walls of the furnace chamber are set back, or offset, sufficiently away from the zone of greatest'heat to prevent their rapid destruction, and thereby greatly prolonging their life.

The nature of my invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings. in which- I have shown the preferred embodiment tl1e1'eof,`and which will now be describedit being premised,

Y however, that various changes can be made height than the arch. These offset portions of he furnace are closedat the top by means of n plurality of cover or shield members 15,

one of which is shown in detail in FiO. 4. i

These cover members are of refractory material, and are arranged s1de by side, with the vertically extending portions l5il at their inner ends, which project upwardly within the arch. They are loosely supported at their outer ends on the Side and end walls of the furnace, and are arranged to be supporteda short distance above the glass level (indicated 'by the linev (Lf-a, in Fig. Q), being movable vertically so that they vmay be kept atV a substantially fixed distance above the glass level. `Various means may be provided for effecting the vertical movement of these' members. ln the drawings, l have shown them as suspended by rack bars 1G, the rack teeth of said hars meshing with 4gear wheels 17 on shafts 1S, `which may be 'actuated by an)7 suitable means (not shown) to-.eifect the simultaneous'freising and lowering of the members These members act to largely tain the heatrat the central or arch portion of the furnace and prevent it from passing backwardly into the offset end and side portions -of the furnace. i

in Figs. and S I have shown the preferable arrangement of the end of the furnace opposite the heating end, and whereby glass may be drawn directly from the glass in this offset end portion.. The partial end wall 1f) at the offset is suspended, las indicated atA 2G. from av suitable overhead supporting frame 2l.. The fixed portions of the offset end are also preferably sus pended as indicated at 2? from a suitable supportingframe 2i. This top portion is shown as provided with three drawing' stations A, B, and C, each station being further shown as having drawing openings Each of these openings has a refractory surrounding ring 2th and a removable coverQi'. 28 (Fig. 5) illustrates open end cylinder,

which can be inserted through any one of the drawing openings, and through whirfli the article is drawn. i

APlaced between the drawing openings, as more clearly shown in Fig. 7, are a plurality of 'floats 29 of refractory material.y rIhe walls of the furnace are provided with suitable vertical guides 30 to receive the ends of these floats and guide them in their floating movements. As clearly shown in Fig. 7, these floats separate the portions of glass between the differentdrawing openings and prevent any partially melted glass atl one drawing opening from floating into an adjacent drawing opening. For the purpose of enabling the removal of such glass, or any other floating scum, I provide a series of skimrners `3l which are slidingly supported upon the upper edges of the refractory floats 29, as also shown in Fig. 7. The end. walls of the furnace are preferably provided with openings, normally closed by removable refractory blocks 32, through which a suitable implement may be inserted for engagement with holes ih these .s1-.immers,

whereby they mary be actuated to push the chilled glass or other scum to the center or body portion of the furnace.

Many attempts have been'made heretofore to successfully draw glass articles directly from a mass of glass contained in. the melting furnace; but great difficulty has been experienced in doing this satisfactorily. One of the ,greatest objections has been the maintenance ofthe proper temperature of that portion 'of the glass from which thel l drawing is made. further difficulty has consisted in the fact that after each article has beendrawn, the drawn article is severed 'from the glass in the furnace and a considerable portion of the lower portion oi the article remains in the furnace. In order to obtain a satisfactory subsequent draw.,I this reinainino glass must be thoroughly melted down and incorporated into the` body of,`

glass in the furnace. This requires consider able time. It is for this purpose that I have provided each of `the drawing stations with a considerable number of drawing' openings, so that in practice the draw can be made successively from `the several openings at j each station.I thus giving ample time for the residue of ,glass from any previous draw to become thoroughlymelted down. The refractory floats Q9, as above stated.y effectively prevent this glass left in one drawing opening from floating underneath an adjacent drawing opening; while the skimmers 3l provide means for .skimming any glass which remain unmelted, as well as any It has been found in the operation of glass 100 furnaces as usuallyconstructed, that' while the side and end walls cut away very rapidly. the bottom wall, which removed aY considerable distance fromi the heating" zone, cuts away very slowly and is of rela- 10e;

ti'vely long' life. By my invention I provide means whereby the sideV and end walls are offset from the heating zone to a distance which may be equal to or Ieven great-er than.

the distance which separates the bottom wall 11o from the heating` zone. -In this manner the refractory blocks of the side and end walls are so far removed from the heating zone' as to ,greatly prolong' their life. In factcthey can be removed, if desired. to a l greater extent than that indicated in. the drawings. i

I do not limit myself to the details of construction and arrangement of the parts which I have shown and described, since I 120H believe that` it is broadly new to provide a glass furnace having a suspended arch over the central portion of the furnace and having its side and end walls o'set lfrom the arch portion of the furnace. l

lVhat I claim is z- 1. A glass furnace having refractory `side and end walls, and a roof arch suspended over the central portion of the furnace, the

edges of said roof arch terminatingmlr ata 139i;

considerabl)7 115 and end walls, anda roof arch suspended.

over the central portion of the furnace, the edges of said roof arch terminating at a. distance inside the side and end Walls, the furnace having regenerators atits sides with uptakes leading from the regenerators above the side walls of the furnace, and there being ports leading from the uptakes into the furnace underneath said arch, sectional covers closing in the top of the furnace between the side and end walls and the central roof arch, and means for simultaneously raising and ylowering a plurality of the cover sections,

substantially as described.

2i. A glass furnace having refractory side and end walls, and a roof arch suspended over the central portion of the furnace, the edges of said arch terminating at a distance from the end and side walls of the furnace, zza-ans for introducing the heating -medium into the furnace underneath the roof arch only, means for closing in the top of the furnace around lsaid arch at both sides and at one end, the other end forming a drawing extension of the full depth of the glass chamber of the furnace, and said extension having a plurality of drawing openings at the top, together with refractory floats placed between different drawing openings, substantially as described.

4. A glass furnace having refractory side and end walls`` and a roof arch suspended over the central portion of the furnace, the edges of said' roof arch terminating at a distance inside the side and end walls, means lfor introducing a heating medium into the furnace below the said arch, sectional covers closing in the top of the furnace at the edges of the arch, and means for adjustably supporting said covers .above the glass level of the furnace, substantially as described.

5. A glass furnace having an arch suspended over its central portion, and-having its lateral and side walls offset from the arch, heating lues leading into the furnace chamber` underneath the arch, and cover` A members or shields for preventing heat from passing backwardly from the edge portion of the furnace intotheoffset portions thereof, together with means for raising and lowering said members; substantially as described.

v6. A glass furnace having a drawing extension at one end thereof, provided with a plurality ofdraiving openings arranged in rows, a plurality of floating partitions separating adjacent drawing openings, and cylinders adapted for insertion through said drawing openings and down and partially between the said partitions; substantially as described.

7. A glass furnace having a drawing extension at one end, said extension being provided with a plurality of drawing openings, floating partitions separating adjacent rows of said openings, and skimmers slidingly supported upon said partitions, together with means whereby the skimmersmay be slidingly reciprocated on the partitions; .substantially as described.

8.- A glass melting furnace having a drawing extension at one end, and a plurality of substantially parallel floats in said extension and extending vlongitudinally thereof, and the extension having a plurality of draw openings intermediate each adjacent pair of floats, substantially as described,

in testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

THOS. W'. CONNINGTON.

Witnesses:

G. M. Vrana H. M. CONNEB. 

